Rational Nation USA

WSJ - At a meeting of all Republican senators on Tuesday after the White House lawyers wrapped their opening arguments, GOP leaders told their conference they don’t have the votes to prevent witnesses from being called at the impeachment trial of President Trump, people familiar with the matter said. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the vote total wasn’t where it needed to be on blocking witnesses or documents, these people said. He had a card with "yes," "no," and "maybes" marked on it, apparently a whip count, but he did not show it to senators. Republican Senate leaders and the White House have dismissed the need for new witnesses or documents, and hoped to wrap the trial up by this week. With sme republican senators leaning toward witnesses and or additional documents it is now within the realm of possibility that the senate might actually decide to do the right thing and call witnesses. John Bolton's explosive revelations ...

The Senate impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump will be a sham. The Senate leader, Moscow Mitch McConnell decided long ago that the trial was going to be short, witnesses and new evidence would not be considered, and the predetermined outcome was to be acquittal of Trump. The president's desired and demanded outcome. Like something right out of Orwell's 1984 the sycophant filled republican Senate is only too happy to oblige their leader and master. … The rules that McConnell has laid out , on which the Senate will vote this afternoon, provide for a Potemkin trial, not a real one. McConnell has been open that his goal is to dispose of the trial before the State of the Union address, on February 4, and the rules show far more interest in speed than accuracy or deliberation. SKIP McConnell indicated that the rules would mirror those adopted for Bill Clinton’s impeachment, but they diverge in crucial respects. These include the two-day limit, which is clearly designed to min...